Album cover. Columbia (CK 46796) (1990)

Dolly Parton
Home for Christmas
Columbia (CK 46796)
September 11, 1990

1. First Noel (Public Domain) 4:03
2. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie) 1:52
3. I'll Be Home for Christmas (Kim Gannon, Walter Kent) 3:13
4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Johnny Marks) 3:25
5. Go Tell It on the Mountain (Public Domain) 2:50
6. The Little Drummer Boy (Katherine Kennicott Davis, Kenny Onorati, Henry Simeone) 4:34
7. We Three Kings (Public Domain) 2:44
8. Jingle Bells (Public Domain) 1:55
9. O Little Town of Bethlehem (Public Domain) 2:39
10. Joy to the World (Public Domain) 4:23

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Recording

The album was recorded in July 1990 at Nightingale Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Release and promotion

The album was released September 11, 1990, on CD and cassette.It also received a limited LP release exclusively in the Netherlands.

Television special

Dolly promoted the album's release with a television special titled Dolly Parton: Christmas at Home. It aired December 21, 1990 on ABC. The special features footage of Dolly in the studio recording the album, visiting and singing with her family at the Tennessee Mountain Home where she grew up, and musical performances filmed at a church and various other locations in the Smoky Mountains.

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Critical reception

Thom Owens from AllMusic gave the album 2 out of 5 stars. He criticized the album's production as "a bit too slick," but said that Dolly's "irrepressible charm" makes it a "reasonably enjoyable holiday record."

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Commercial performance

The album debuted and peaked at number 74 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart dated December 22, 1990. It spent a total of two weeks on the chart. In 1994, it peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Top Catalog Albums chart dated December 17. The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart dated October 24, 2020.

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Accolades

The album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 27, 1994.

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Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.

• Dolly Parton – lead vocals, background vocals
• The Mighty Fine Band:
  • Michael Davis – keyboards, percussion
  • Richard Dennison – background vocals
  • Jimmy Mattingly – fiddle, mandolin
  • Jennifer O'Brien – background vocals
  • Gary Smith – piano, Hammond B3 organ, keyboards
  • Howard Smith – background vocals
    
  • Steve Turner – drums, percussion
  • Paul Uhrig – acoustic bass, bass
  • Kent Wells – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Robert Williams – dobro

Additional musicians

• ​Stuart Duncan – mandolin, fiddle
• Carl Jackson – acoustic guitar
• Michael Johnson – gut string guitar
• Jack Smith – steel guitar
• Alisha Jones Wall – Hammond dulcimer

Additional background vocals

• Bob Bailey
• Bobby Jones & Nashville
  • Theresa J. Comer, Everett Drake, Nuana Dunlap, Gary E. Jenkins, Bobby Jones, Lenoria Ridley, Lawrence D. Thomison, Harry Watkins, Angela Wright
• The Christ Church Pentecostal Choir
  • ​Jason Beddoe, Coby Coffman, Al Coleman, Melissa Coleman, Joy Gardner, Landy Gardner, Vicki Pointer, Rebekah Rayburn, Tanya Sykes, Mark Warren
• Carl Jackson
• The New Salem Methodist Church Congregation
• Our Kids
  • Trent Ashcraft, Alyson Chance, Hannah Dennison, Vanessa Hollowell, Jake Hoover, Crystal Hunt, Amy Johnson, Gretchen Johnson, Cole Kiracofe, Ian Kiracofe, Bryan Seaver, Rebecca Seaver, Austin Smith, Brandon Smith, Tiffany Smith, David Turner, Katie Turner, Derek Wells, Dustin Wells

​Production

• ​Michael Davis – recording assistant
• Richard Dennison – production assistant
• Chrissy Follmar – recording assistant
• Brad Jones – recording assistant
• Mark Kiracofe – production assistant
• John Kunz – recording assistant​
• The Mighty Fine Band – arrangements
• Gary Paczaosa – recording, mixing
• Dolly Parton – executive producer
• Denny Purcell – mastering
• Gary Smith – producer

​Other personnel

• Dennis Carney – photography
• Tony Chase – styling
• Rachel Dennison – makeup
• Cheryl Riddle – hair